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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. kid — child
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. spring — of water
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. spring — the season
  9. spell — letters
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. spring — a coil
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. ball — a dance
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. ball — a great time
  17. game — a match
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. kid — to tease
  21. bat — the animal
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. spell — magic

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com